] The reason that I have over 700 BBS programs listed on
] the documentary site is not just because there were so
] many platforms to program them, but because the balance
] of the software and the hardware against the very root of
] humanity's nature is a problem, a difficulty, far deeper
] and greater than any specific issues of the moment.

Latest post from Jason Scott on the BoingBoing sidebar waxes about his big picture conclusions about the BBS scene.

Why Jason Scott doesn't run a BBS.

Going to have to catch this play..

To the kitschy annals of dot-com nostalgia, add the endearing farce of Rentalpuppy.com, a saga that starts and ends at Starbucks, with $50 million vanishing in between. Consultants, V.C.s, investment bankers and the dot-commers themselves are chewed up and sung out in a giddy production, the kind of show where "Norton anti-virus" is earnestly invoked in a lovers' duet.

Based in a SOMA loft with all the necessary office distractions, like foosball, air hockey, cellphones ringing to the tune of "Baby Got Back," Rental Puppy, as a company, seems to be mostly about office workers IM-ing their friends all morning before going out for a high-tech burrito, while they wait to vest. "I'm vesting. I'm vesting. Just four more years, then I'll be resting."

The real villain here isn't the hapless dot-commers themselves, whose main crime is just getting caught up in it all -- and, hey, who wasn't? -- but rather a nefarious investment banker from Stevenson Roberts, whose sterling credentials include sitting on the board of Enron and WorldCom, and the V.C.s so sexist that they have to have everything a woman says repeated to them by a man so that they can hear it.

It's never too early for dot-com nostalgia

] It came and went before anyone knew what happened.
] Nashville's first "flash mob" took place at the Mall at
] Green Hills on Saturday. Confused onlookers stood around
] wondering what was going on as a crowd of about 35-40
] people gathered around a large clock in the mall to
] celebrate 2:00 like it was New Years. Then, it was over.

Nashville Flash Mob

] There will be no final pictures from inside the
] World Trade Center in the instant replay.
] There will be no final pictures from inside the
] World Trade Center in the instant replay.
]
] There will be no RealVideo of 2600-reading,
] Linux-booting white hat hacktivists
] And Mickey Mouse in the public domain.
] The theme song will not be written by Jack Valenti or
] Hilary Rosen, nor sung by Metallica, Dr. Dre,
] Christina Aguilera, Matchbox 20, or Blink-182.
] Revolution is not an AOL Keyword.
]
] Revolution will not be right back after
] Pop-up ads about eCommerce, eTailers, or eContent.
] You will not have to worry about a
] Cookie in your browser, a bug in your email, or a
] Worm in your recycling bin.
] Revolution will not run faster with Intel inside.
] Revolution, dude, is not getting a Dell.
] Revolution will increase your Google rank.
]
] Revolution is not an AOL Keyword, is not an AOL Keyword,
] Is not an AOL Keyword, is not an AOL Keyword.
] Revolution will be no stream or download, dear Netizen;
] Revolution must still be live.

This is an update of the very famous Gil Scott-Heron Poem of the 60's "The Revolution will not be Televised"*. Though I believe our elcetronic connectedness DOES empower revolutionary ideas and movements in a way unlike anything in the past, there is still an amount of candy-coating that surrounds it and lulls people to inaction.

*"...The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat."

(Rattle didn't realise this had _never_ been meme'd.. Wow.)

Revolution is not an AOL Keyword

] The parents of Ghyslain Raza, the Quebec teenager who
] became a celebrity this spring after classmates posted on
] the Internet a video of him mimicking a Star Wars
] character, allege that their son was so humiliated by the
] experience that he had to get psychiatric care.
]
] The revelation is made in a lawsuit his parents have
] filed against the families of four classmates they accuse
] of maliciously turning their son into an object of
] mockery.

] One group collected more than $3,000 (U.S.), which they
] used to buy him an Apple iPod portable music player.
]
] In the excerpts from Internet chats filed in court, the
] four appear to be plotting ways to get the gifts sent to
] another address so they can keep the iPod for themselves.

Evil.

Globetechnology | Star Wars Kid Sues

] Smartmobber Rob Zazueta writes: I read about the smart
] mobs in Manhattan and figured San Francisco simply
] shouldn't be out done. So I've set up a spot on my site
] where folks can join a list (NO spam, no non-mob related
] stuff, etc) and be part of a Bay Area Mob. I'm trying to
] get some folks signed up to gain critical mass and get
] the ball rolling.

East coast vs. west coast.. How hip-hop is that?

Smart Mobs | Inexplicable Mobs, San Francisco Style?

I used to love all the great "underground" sites, l0pht, Black Crawling Systems, Spacerogue, etc. Nice to see some of them still around, this one has loads to look at!

Black Market Press Information from the 'underground'

] PhreakNIC 7 dates have been set for October 24-26, 2003!

PhreakNIC 7 :: Nashville, TN

Federal:
* Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act
* Digital Millenium Copyright Act
* Economic Espionage Act
* Electronic Communications Privacy Act
* Lanham Act (Trademark)
* Wiretap Act

State:
* Georga Computer Systems Protection Act
* George Trade Secrets Act

Local:
???

---

Ok. Someone come up with a points system for this stuff so we can compare cons. You know, gives points for some things, subtracts for others, bonus multiplier for how far thru the court system it gets, final score somehow based on outcome..

Also, what were the codes cited for the guys arrested on the roof?

---

Update:
[03:26:20] (Psyiode) i was arrested for "Disorderly Conduct"
[03:26:46] (Psyiode) "Jumping balcony to balcony; Ran from Security"
[03:26:56] (Psyiode) code section 16-58, State Law

] At Macworld, out-of-work dot-commers pose as marauding
] clowns. The authorities are not amused.

Salon.com Technology | Send in the iKlowns